As our society becomes more
sedentary and young people spend more of their time in non-physical pursuits
(television, video games, movies, computers, etc.), we see progressively
lower levels of physical fitness in increasingly larger numbers of boys
and girls. Over a 15-year period, childhood obesity has increased over
50 percent and super obesity has more than doubled. As a result, Type
II diabetes, formerly called adult onset diabetes, has become prevalent
in teenagers and even preadolescents.

Body Composition

Research has shown that strength
training is the best means for improving body composition in youth, as
it addresses two major problems in many preadolescents, namely, too little
muscle and too much fat.

Public School Study

In one of our public school
studies, the underfit and overfat fifth graders who participated in a
basic and brief strength training program gained significantly more muscle
and lost twice as much fat as a matched group of students who did not
perform strength exercise. Perhaps most important, the strength trained
students made such noticeable physical improvements that the strength
exercises were subsequently included in the standard physical education
programs.

Bone Development

The most critical time for
developing strong bones is during the childhood years. Recent research
indicates that strength training is about six times more effective for
building bone in preadolescent girls than it is in young, middle-aged
or older women. Contrary to the myth that strength training is detrimental
to young bones (no such medical report has ever been documented), it is
actually the best way to develop a strong musculoskeletal system.

Physiological Response

Because children have low
levels of testosterone, some people assume that they cannot increase their
muscle strength or that any strength gains are temporary. Our studies
have consistently shown significant strength gains (15 to 100 percent)
in preteens who complete a two-month training program. Moreover, after
two additional months of no strength exercise, the strength trained youth
retained 50 percent of their strength gain and were still significantly
stronger than their non-training peers. Children, like women and seniors
who also have low levels of testosterone, respond most favorably to strength
exercise.

Performance Enhancement

In our most recent study,
female figure skaters (average age 10 years) did one or two brief strength
workouts a week. After 10 weeks of training, the preadolescent participants
increased their overall strength by 67 percent, their vertical jump by
13 percent, and their skating performance by major proportions according
to their coaches.

Training Guidelines

The skaters performed one
set of 10 basic strength exercises for 13 to 15 repetitions each. We recommend
using higher repetitions with moderate weightloads, as we have found significantly
greater increases in children's strength and endurance when training with
13 to 15 repetitions compared to training with 6 to 8 repetitions.

After 15 years of youth strength
training programs with no injuries, we are confident that this activity
is safe and beneficial (physically and psychologically) for children.
A sensible strength training program enhances musculoskeletal development,
encourages self-confidence and elicits a physically active lifestyle.

Wayne L. Westcott, Ph.D.,
is fitness director at the South Shore YMCA in Quincy, Massachusetts
and strength training consultant for IDEA, the American Council of Exercise,
the International Fitness Institute, and the YMCA of the USA. Dr. Westcott
is the author of the college textbook: Strength Fitness, and the professional
textbook Be Strong.